Like I Can
by whysirmesir
Summary: "Perhaps the reason you can't love yourself is because you've poured out all your love into someone else and left none for yourself?" He whispered. She paused; absorbing every word, "So then you're the reason I can't love myself?" [ FABREVANS AU ]


A/N;

Ok i think you all deserve a quick explanation with this story so here it goes;

basically i wasn't very happy with the way it was going, re-reading the chapters they seemed sloppy and i feel like i just rushed into this story without giving it the full attention it deserved.

so im starting from the beginning.

it's going to have the same storyline but this time im just going to put more thought into the chapters and make sure they actually flow.

thank you to everyone who is/was originally reading this story and i hope you guys enjoy the new direction [no pun intended] that its going to take from now onwards.

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><p><strong>Chapter One; <strong>

Quinn Fabray laced her delicate fingers through the curved-shaped handle of her coffee mug, cupping her palms around it lightly. She started to stare at its contents, mesmerized by the tiny little bubbles floating gracefully along the surface of her drink. She swirled her mug gently clockwise, the smell of the fresh espresso swept it's way up past her nose, allowing her to lose consciousness in her own thoughts. It wasn't until she felt a sudden jolt as the table wobbled violently, causing a small amount of coffee to dive out of her cup and land onto her hand, that she was eventually snapped back into reality and glanced up.

"Crap, I'm so sorry. See this is why I can't stand going to coffee shops like this. They just cram so many freaking tables into a tiny space, not giving you hardly enough room to breathe let alone move." Quinn smiled politely at the guy stood in front of her, briefly analysing his appearance; tall, slender, dishevelled blonde locks that fell just above his hypnotic emerald eyes. Dressed in faded Levi's and a casual white t-shirt. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn up.

"It's fine, I'm sure the table will forgive you this one time." Quinn closed her eyes almost instantly in embarrassment as she heard the words that slipped from her mouth but relief instantly began to calm her down, when the guy let out a gentle laugh. Quinn couldn't quite place what it was about this guy, she'd literally only just met him but her skin was getting goose bumps just looking into those perfect eyes, and _that smile._

"Well then I offer my sincere apologises to both you and this fine piece of woodwork. I hope you will both be able to find it in you to forgive me?" He asked, looking intently at Quinn.

"Apology accepted." She nodded, before quickly glancing over her shoulder at the queue of people waiting for order their drinks, trying to find her friend, Santana. Eventually she spotted the petite Latina leaning against a wall at the far end of the counter growing increasingly impatient as she waited for her drink to be made. Quinn didn't know how long she could hold up a conversation before she managed to completely humiliate herself in front of the cute guy. She didn't even know why she felt so flustered all of a sudden, flirting was an area of expertise for Quinn, she was practically a professional at it, she could usually wrap any guy around her little finger almost instantly, yet this time it seemed different. For once, she actually felt nervous.

"So are you going to tell me your name?" He asked, pulling out the chair opposite Quinn to sit down on. She opened her mouth about to respond, but someone already beat her to the punch.

"Quinn, I swear this is the last time we _ever_ come here to buy coffee, 20 freaking minutes to make this. THIS." Santana raged, whilst waving around the takeout coffee cup. She paused when she noticed the mysterious guy sat in her seat.

"And you are?"

The blonde quickly rose to his feet, Quinn watched as the apologetic look from earlier began to reappear on his face.

"Er, I'm Sam." He replied nervously, grabbing his takeout cup from the table.

Santana raised an eyebrow at him, "Mmhm. Cute, matches your face." She teased before taking her seat and noticing the smirk on Quinn's face in response to her comment.

"What? He is?" she pressed, leaning back on her chair.

"Santana you're already dating someone." Quinn protested, rolling her eyes when she merely shrugged in response. That was typical Santana though, ever since Quinn could remember she had never been the _committed _type, rallying a total of 30 guys back in high school, Santana blamed it on 'not being able to find the right one' but there was something more to it, Quinn just couldn't quite place what is was. Unlike Quinn, Santana didn't seem to have a particular type based on hair colour or eye colour, etc. she just seemed to jump to the hottest guy she could find before ditching them straight away when she got bored. She wasn't what you class as a player, in fact Santana had never cheated on any of her previous lovers in her life, she just couldn't stand the same company of a guy for too long. It was complicated.

"Okay, so the latina is taken that's a bummer. What about you blondie?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow at the end of his question, keeping his eyes fixed on Quinn.

"Confident guy all of a sudden, huh? But yeah, blondie. What's _IS _your status?" Santana added teasingly pursing her lips together, smirking despite knowing she was probably checking herself straight into Quinn's bad books.

Just as expected Quinn threw a sharp look towards Santana for the mockery, before biting her lip nervously as she shifted her gaze back to Sam. It had been a couple of months since she dated someone, her trust in men had turned shaky after her _last_ relationship and she just wanted time to herself to take a step away from all that drama plus there were certain obstacles in her life that currently seemed to prevent the whole "dating idea" from reoccurring just yet. But now, looking at Sam, Quinn couldn't help but admit he did seem like a sweet guy, and for some reason there just seemed to be something about him that intrigued her to want to get to know more about him.

"Um, not taken..well...currently, um, i think?" Quinn finally replied, she could feel her cheeks catching fire again when Sam's smile widened and quickly sipped her espresso hoping the abnormally large mug would cover her cheeks.

Santana suddenly launched her arm across the table grabbing the napkin resting under Quinn's arm, ignoring every word that came out of her mouth and started rapidly scribbling something onto it before handing it to Sam when she was finished. "That's her number. You're welcome." She added with a mischievous smile.

"Well, thank you. Ok I better be going actually, but it was nice meeting you Santana." His eyes moved back to Quinn, "Blondie." he nodded and with that, left without another word.

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><p>"So let me get this straight you suggested Quinn should go on a date with a guy she hardly knows anything about? And you've given him her number plus<strong><em> our<em>** address, despite the…circumstances at the moment? And you expect us to just be calm about it? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Santana rolled her eyes whilst leaning against the kitchen counter, "For crying out loud, Puck. Why are you causing such a fuss, he seems like a really nice guy? This is what Quinn needs, someone who could actually give a crap about her. It's one harmless date, it's not like I'm sending her down the aisle! And besides there's four us who live here, I'm sure if he did turn out to be some psycho we could take him." The irritation in her voice seemed to be increasing more and more as the conversation continued. They had been bickering back and fourth at each other for nearly an hour in the kitchen, while Quinn remained in the lounge, still in earshot though so she could keep track of what exactly was being said between the three of them, ready to jump in if things got a bit too heated. She flicked through the channels on the tv half heartedly, not really feeling in the mood to watch anything but Santana had given her orders to stay sat on the sofa when Puck and their fourth roommate Finn Hudson had started to cause a scene over hearing about the girls' earlier event in the coffee shop.

Quinn understood both sides of the discussion perfectly, Santana was her best friend and everything she did for Quinn was meant with good intentions, she knew about her past and all the crap she had been through over the years and she just wanted to see her be happy. The boys on the other hand, were like her brothers she had known Finn and Puck since they were all about 4 years old so as soon as relationships got mentioned into a topic of conversation they would instantly turn protective over her, but that was normally expected seeing as Quinn had a talent for picking the wrong type of guys.

"Look Santana, all we're trying to say is this is a bit risky, if Quinn gets attached and this doesn't end up being a one-off date, then it might not end well. I mean she would have to tell him eventually...?" Finn interrupted, trying to keep a calm tone between the three of them. Santana exhaled loudly and placed one hand on her forehead the other on hip, trying to maintain her stubborn manner despite knowing that deep down they did have a point.

"Fine, fine. But we all know she'll go on this date regardless of what you say." Santana sighed, before turning around to open the fridge. "Seriously when did our lives become so dramatic?!"

Quinn leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, letting her thoughts run wild inside her head. Truthfully she agreed with everything they said, going on a date with Sam was risky, it could lead to more complicated feelings and emotions, and at this specific moment maybe it wasn't the right time but being stuck in the company of just Santana, Finn and Puck and seeing them all happy-ish in their, sort of, relationships pushed her to want to step out of her comfort zone for just one night. It wasn't like she was going to blurt out her entire life story the guy? Like Santana said maybe it would end up just being a one night thing and she wouldn't have to worry about the _situation_ she was in at the moment? Maybe she could just make a new friend out this, no feelings attached?

_Or maybe she was just digging herself a deeper hole. _


End file.
